Automotive vehicle are manufactured with an exposed B-pillar between the front and rear seats, or the front and second row of seats for those vehicles having more than two rows of seats. In some automobiles, such as vans and mini-vans, the front door is pivoted at the front A-pillar and the rear door is supported in a track for sliding movement between a closed position in which the sliding rear door is closed against the B-pillar, and an open position in which the sliding rear door is moved rearwardly from the B-pillar.
Passengers sitting in the second row of seats often desire to grip a portion of the vehicle to gain leverage or assistance in exiting the vehicle from the second row of seats. The B-pillar is the typical structure grabbed by such passengers. When the passenger grasps the B-pillar for support, both the pivoted front door and the sliding rear door are customarily opened. If the front door is inadvertently closed while the passenger in the rear seat is grasping the B-pillar for support, the fingers of the passenger can be caught between the B-pillar and the closing front door. Such interference between the passenger's fingers and the B-pillar will typically result in injury to the passenger.
Door closure protection devices are known in the art, but are associated with the closing of the sliding door when the pivoted front door is opened. Other finger protection devices are found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,995,871, granted to John Himka on Oct. 11, 1960, in which a finger guard apparatus is associated with the pivoting of front and rear car doors. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,751, granted to Regis Renaud on Dec. 3, 2002, a swinging safety device is loaded on the vehicle door to prevent the door from being fully closed until the extended lever has been manually retracted. U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,223, issued to James Iati on Feb. 14, 1989, discloses first and second flexible strips cooperate to seal the front pivoted door while providing clearance to prevent damage to interfering fingers.
An adjustable bumper assembly in U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,089, issued to Rajinder Singh on Apr. 20, 1999, is mounted perpendicularly to the vehicle body surface to prevent movement of the door once contact has been made, thus preventing injury to fingers due to an unwanted closing of the sliding rear door. U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,246, granted to Tatsuo Minami on Mar. 5, 1985, is directed to a catch lever with a stopper plate and a spring which biases the free end of a hooker portion into engagement with the catch member positioned on the bottom wall of the vehicle to also avoid injuries due to the unwanted closing of a sliding rear door. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0085578, published on May 8, 2003, teaches a pair of interrelated members used in conjunction with a latch mechanism such that when the first lever is in a rest position, the second lever is held in a retracted position, and when the first lever is in an actuated position, the second lever is moved into a deployed position.
None of the known prior art teaches a mechanism that prevents the closing of a sliding rear door when the corresponding front door has been opened. Such a mechanism would be desirable to prevent fingers of passengers in the second row of seating from placing their fingers into an interfering position on the B-pillar when the front door has been opened.